Page 59 of The Mended Hearts Bookshop

Pen ran her hand over Ash’s torso, across her flat stomach, over the bump of her rib cage, gliding across the sensitive point of her right nipple. Ash felt a stab of heat and gasped. “Mmm, that’s the problem,” said Pen, sliding over a little so that her tongue could reach Ash’s left nipple. “Do you think you might have a little more energy left to give?”

But Ash was too busy concentrating on breathing to answer that question.

In fact, she was busy for most of the rest of the night, in between touching and tasting and trying and napping. She didn’t get back to the bookshop until after dawn had broken golden and orange and sea-salty.

And what she saw when she pushed the door open made the blood drain straight out of her face and her heart stop beating for an instant.

Chapter Twenty Five

“Good grief,” Pen said, peering into the bookshop. She turned back to Ash. “I’m so sorry this has happened to you.”

“The little bastards, I’ll string up whoever did this.”

Pen, slightly shocked by the venom in Ash’s eyes, patted her arm. “It’s a break in. A horrible invasion of privacy, but in the end, you’re safe, the shop isn’t burned to the ground, and just at the moment, we have no idea how bad the damage is. So maybe let’s hold off on stringing people up for the time being. Did you call the police?”

Ash nodded. “First thing.”

“Alright, I’m sure Arjun will be here as soon as he can, so first—”

“Arjun?” Ash asked.

“Mmm,” said Pen. “He’s Mr. and Mrs. Gupta’s son, you know, from the newsagents? He’s the local police constable. He’ll be around ASAP, he’s a good boy. Man, I suppose now.”

“I had no idea.” Ash paused for a second. “I’ve never been into the newsagents.”

“You should, make yourself known,” Pen said. “The Guptas are lovely. As is Rosalee down at the pub, and Moira’s a doll when she’s not overwhelmed by the kids, oh, and speaking of kids, Elspeth from the school is a scream. You’d like her. Very dry sense of humor.”

Ash looked at the cracked shop door. “I suppose I haven’t made much of an effort to meet people.”

“You’ve met most of the bookclub,” pointed out Pen. “And you’ve got plenty of time for socializing. Besides, I thought you were a lone wolf.”

“So did I,” said Ash.

She said it in such a way that made Pen think that she was doubting it now. Pen managed to keep her small secret smile to herself. “Alright, let’s handle the basics here. Is this just mischief, or is there real damage?”

“From what it looks like, there’s plenty of book damage,” Ash said, peering in through the door at the once tidy books now scattered over the floor.

“Did they get upstairs?” Pen asked.

Ash sighed. “I’ll look.”

“And check the money,” advised Pen.

“I went to the bank last night,” said George from behind them. His face was pale but he’d already put together what was going on. “There can’t be more than ten pounds in the place. Anyway, most of our sales are online.”

“We got broken into,” Ash said.

“I can see that,” said George. He examined the crack in the door. “Looks like they took a crowbar to it.

“You know what happened before the crowbar was invented?” Pen asked.

Both Ash and George looked at her.

“Crows just drank at home,” said Pen. “What? I’m trying to lighten the mood. Like I was just telling Pen, at least no one got hurt.”

“This is the third break in on the street in the last couple of months,” George said. “Arjun thinks it’s kids looking for trouble, opportunists.”

“They still deserve to be locked up,” said Ash. “And how do you know the town policeman by his first name?”

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